Hunting And Fishing Among Israelites

Although hunting and fishing were not the primary methods the Israelites used for securing sustenance it is probable that it was at least part of the way some of them procured their food. There are references to hunters and hunting techniques as well as references to fishing implements, fishing techniques and fishermen throughout scripture; both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The use of hunting and fishing as illustrations by the prophets and the use of fishing illustrations by Jesus shows the familiarity the early Jewish people had of hunting and fishing. Without this familiarity hunting and fishing illustrations to teach spiritual truths would have been lost on God’s chosen people.

Gower states that there was relatively little

The scriptural support Gower uses for this statement—1 Kings 22:48—is a brief summary of some of Jehoshaphat’s accomplishments during his reign as king. The ships referenced were made for a specific purpose; to go to Ophir for gold. These ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber, a port on the Northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba.

King Solomon lived and reigned approximately 80 years before Jehoshaphat’s reign. “King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. With the fleet, Hiram sent his servants, experienced seamen, along with Solomon’s servants. They went to Ophir and acquired gold there—16 tons—and delivered it to Solomon.”

Solomon built ships at Ezion-geber, the same port where Jehoshaphat’s ships were sunk, and the scripture clearly shows that Solomon used Hiram, the Phoenician king of Tyre, and Hiram’s able-bodied seamen to sail Solomon’s ships to Ophir for gold. Moreover, Solomon’s servants accompanied Hiram’s seamen. An argument could be made that the Israelites were simply passengers aboard Solomon’s vessels while they were being sailed by the Phoenician sailors but this is not strong enough evidence to support Gower’s statement that Jehoshaphat’s fleet was Israel’s only

“Then the fishermen will mourn. All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up.”

The prophet Isaiah, who lived some 700 years before the birth of Christ, speaks of fishermen on the Nile. The prophet was knowledgeable of the fishing techniques of casting hooks and nets. If the prophet was knowledgeable of these techniques, certainly others were knowledgeable and would have used these same techniques in their own areas. The calling of Peter, a fisherman, came early in the New Testament record and it appears that fishing was a well-established industry at the time of this call.

“The Lord God has sworn by His holiness: Look, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, every last one of you with fishhooks.”

Amos was an older contemporary of Isaiah and he speaks of fishhooks. The Hebrew word used in this passage, duwgah, is defined as a hook used for fishing. Again, this shows that fishing implements and techniques were familiar enough to the Israelites to be used as an illustration for explaining spiritual